THE SHOWDOWN_WIP blog_COLORING FINISHED?_Updated:9/12/13

I have a new design in the early stages and thought I would share the process from the start. I will update as I progress. I am planning on working this one like Death Rides in the Night and do a majority of the work with traditional inking (I don't work very often anymore with traditional but I would like to return to my roots). Feel free to ask me any questions as I progress, and feedback is always welcome :)

Title: The Showdown

I am planning on running a contest to win the original drawing when my design is up for voting. Would anyone be interested?

Early Sketches:

Initial thumbnail (very small drawing)Making tweaks in Photoshop with my Wacom TabletTaping up the print outs with masking tapeNext I cover the back of the taped up paper with lead. I have a thick piece of lead ( you can get it at an art store) that I useTape the paper to vellum bristol boardLaying out the structural lines of the drawing on the top paperLead Transfers underneathOkay, so I haven't gone in on the entire drawing with a pencil to add detail. I have been adding detail and then inking the area (not recommended). I always get too excited to use ink and just do my drawing that way. When I was in college I challenged myself to only draw with permanent ink in my sketchbooks and that helped to get me comfortable with making sure the marks I made were what I wanted. Anyways, If I make a mistake, I can always fix it and clean it up in photoshop ;)My progress as of 8/29...gettin' all explosive up in heeyah. I also sketched in 2 extra arms for the samurai, because I thought 4 arms are better than 2.Burning the midnight oil. Wanted to update my progress before I go to bed. This piece is taking a LONG time to ink, but I think it will be worth it...I hope :P This is one of the largest drawings I've ever inked.Just an update of my progress 8/31. Did not get to work on it as much as I wanted to today...Making some good progress now! Got the ground established, planning on adding an environment behind the action. I am thinking some tall pagodas. Two more intended robot ninjas to go.FINISHED THE INKING! Got the artwork scanned in and separated from the white background. My artwork was bigger than my scanner, so I did two scans of the artwork of both sides and then put the two scans together in photoshop (had to rotate one side). Next I plan on drawing a few more elements to add to the drawing in photoshop. I am going to make some pagoda's and some custom ink splotches for the setting sun in the image.Detail:PAGODAS. I decided to do individual ink wash drawings for the pagodas to be placed behind all the action. I picture the sketchy quick look of them will be a nice contrast to all the action going on in the foreground. Maybe for the contest to win the original ink drawing, 4 other winners can get one of the pagoda drawings. That way there are more winners? Does that sound good?I've already started the coloring, but I don't want to get ahead of myself and not show you the black and white. It looks crowded yes, but don't worry...the color is going to pull it all together :)Started laying out the colors. All the colors are on separate layers and can be changed whenever. I am still tinkering around trying to figure out how I want the mood to be, what do you think so far? I wanted a moody sunset battle. I also made a black ink wash and scanned it in to make the darker color in the sun.Detail:I got distracted on other projects...I decided to go a more monotone route (as suggested by some), with only grays and reds. I think it is about finished, I would love to wear it. Feedback welcome, do you all think it is ready?Detail:Mocked up:Okay, so I decided to make the robot samurai's outline thicker to make him pop more. I think it works. Gonna sub this and then I'll announce how the drawing give away will work (still have to figure that out. Unfortunately, I will have to keep the winners within the United States(shippings costs would be too high))

Thanks Baka I totally agree with your suggestion, it would look more natural and show more movement. I was thinking that the ninja was airborne and the samurai put the sword strategically where it would land, but I like your suggestion more.

when i saw the third slide of this blog,i thought you were taping the initial sketch paper on to your Intuos...but then understood what was really happening..but that'd be a great idea,just sketch on the paper along the lines :)have to try that...

Btw this is one hell of an action packed design from what i can see...initial sketches are super..awesome work

For this drawing I have mostly used a 01 micron. You can actually get a lot of expression out of one size depending on how you hold the pen (holding it at a slant gives you thinner lines) and how quickly you move the pen.